O Come, Root of Jesse!
Restful Advent, Day 19, Thursday
Wishing you a blessed final week of Advent, friends!
Beginning on December 17, Advent intensifies adoration of Messiah Jesus through the ancient prayers called the O Antiphons. I first learned about this tradition from a beautiful collection of sonnets by poet-priest Malcolm Guite. He wrote in Sounding the Seasons, “"In the first centuries, the Church had a beautiful custom of praying seven great prayers calling afresh on Christ to come, calling him by the mysterious titles he has in Isaiah, calling to him; O Wisdom. O Root! O Key O Light! Come to us! "
The O Antiphons, taken together, circle us back to the heart of Advent, watching and waiting for Christ’s arrival. This is an excellent week to sit in candlelight and, if nothing else, sing a verse of O Come, O Come Emmanuel” each day. To help us remain present in Advent prayer, I’ve created an O Antiphon booklet that you might enjoy downloading or printing.
I am featuring the beautiful artwork of Henry Ossawa Tanner throughout the week, and I am excited to share some of his less familiar images with you. While I did not reprint Malcolm Guite’s sonnets, they are included in the daily posts I’ll send to paid subscribers. You can also read them on his blog each day this week. Better yet, buy his book! Paid subscribers will continue to receive one meditation a day in their inboxes, but I hope the booklet will allow you to move at least one step further from technology as you pray this week.
Of course, I am always delighted to welcome new paid subscribers, and today might be the perfect day for you to subscribe!
Please feel free to share the booklet with friends! (Disclaimer: This idea came together quickly, so the booklet did not get a thorough proofreading. I apologize in advance for the typos!) No matter how you join me, I pray that the meditations draw us nearer to the heart of God, who is with us and will surely come again and forever.
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